Bulleid Pacifics - Past or Present

Steel sheet is indeed fitted underneath the boiler barrel but I'm not aware of this being a post preservation modification.
I'm not at all sure the fires were caused by neglect. Flexing of the frames led to cracking of the oil bath and subsequent leaks.

 

34070 has cladding on underside of boiler barrel. And, the oil being thrown up by wheels was a much axlebox oil, which overspilled the underkeeps and dripped into the BFB wheels. Of course this only happens becuase of the superior axlebox oil feed arrangement that the original Bulleids had!

 

Not sure if this has been posted or not before.

But in The Railway Magazine it states that an appeal has been launched for 35010 "Blue Star" for £15,000 to repair the right hand cylinder.

Hopefully this will be successful and it wont be too long till 35010 steams again! =D>

 

Has there been much movement with restoration of Blue Star apart from the appeal for the repair of the new Right Hand cylinder?

 

I think a new cab was made, and the loco painted with something to protect it from the elements. Not sure what else. The idea of this appeal is to raise funds without diverting any from the Black 5 which is also at the CVR, but under restoration.

This was the condition of her when i visited last year:

http://kieranhardy.fotopic.net/p40797556.html

 

looks in pretty good condition? Anyone know the condition of the boiler? Be nice to have a Bulleid with a white rim around the box-Pot wheels! It'll make her one of a kind!

 

Looks different from the last time I saw it in North Woolwich Museum

 

Just been looking at Nhthompsons pics that he put in the Clanline thread, as shown here: http://nick301.photos.us.com/p39226014.html
Lovely pics by the way mate!
It looks like 35022 has a cut down tender more than any I have seen? (Or are my eyes deceiving me?)

 

That looks like a 4,500 gallon tender but that's from memory (need to dig out Winkworths book)

Found the book, Its a 4,500 cut down tender.
"edited"

 

Wrong. It's a cut-down 6,000 gallon tender (number 3347), that's why it looks so long.

 

Glad you like the photos - I just wish I'd taken more photos when I had the chance. Here is my main gallery with lots of Bulleids, including a new gallery of 34010 Sidmouth (my photos and other people's), awaiting restoration by Southern Locos Ltd, or to be precise it's awaiting a lot of people to buy some SLL shares.

http://nick301.photos.us.com/

 

Far be it from me to correct people who were actually there to witness the beauty of Southern Steam. But this photo http://nick301.photos.us.com/p44168168.html is not a Q1 and a U. Its a Q1 and either a 75 or a 76 standard.

 

What can I say? You're quite right. I've taken a look at the original and it's a 2-6-0 (I got that much right) so it must be a 76xxx. Thanks for spotting it, I shall fix the description.

 

Hi everyone I see that 34105 Swanage name plate is coming up for sale I wonder how much it will go for and who is selling it?
http://www.sheffieldrailwayana.co.uk/ca ... taster.htm

 

I don't believe that is original, not even by looking at the picture of it.

 

To pick up on this query, I've just found a newspaper photo cutting that I took at the time.

It shows 34066 (early crest, parallel lining) immediately after the accident standing upright and with very little obvious damage. Everything behind the tender is shown as obliterated by the collapsed overhead bridge. This was the event that caused the heavy loss of life in the accident, brought about by the leading coaches striking the bridge supports.

Richard Derry shows Spitfire as entering the works on 17/2/58 and outshopped only a little over one month later on 22/3/58 with its original tender, now cut down - more evidence that there was relatively little damage to the loco.

 

Over 50 years has passed since this horrible accident and the "temporary" bridge is still in place. My grandad once told me he walked from London Bridge station (just outside his old office) all the way home in New Eltham on the night of this accident. Its a wonder that so many other didnt perish in the accident especially if there could of been a oncoming train on adjacent lines.

 

It very nearly was, there was a train about to cross the bridge when it collapsed (EMU), fortunately the driver saw it happen and stopped a few yards short.

 

Further to John Petley's query, I was always puzzled as to why 34066 was not renamed or considered a jinxed engine after the accident.

Looking at the picture now I can see how it could have been felt at the time that although the accident was initiated by the train passing a signal at danger, the severity of it was entirely due to the unfortunate siting of the very large angled over-bridge. If it had happened anywhere else on the line the loss of life would have been minimal if any.

I've seen a video somewhere of the driver's view of that stretch of line through St Johns which shows how challenging the signal layout still is in broad daylight let alone after dark in a 1950's London fog.

Also, I didn't realise the train was the delayed Man of Kent.

 

Just to let people who might or could be around, is that tomorrow afternoon at around 1.30pm 34070 Manston will haul its first normal passenger train unaided on the Swanage Railway........dont think it will be too taxing for it!